SEC Baseball Tournament 2019: LSU, Ole Miss Advance with Wins on Friday

The last two spots in the SEC baseball tournament semifinals were up for grabs on Friday, with Arkansas facing Ole Miss in a rematch of the Razorbacks' win on Wednesday and LSU facing Mississippi State after the Bulldogs beat the Tigers that same day.

Ole Miss will face Georgia on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on the SEC Network, while LSU will take on Vanderbilt later that day at a time to be determined.

Below, we'll break down Friday's action. 

Ole Miss def. Arkansas 3-2

The Rebels weren't about to lose to the Razorbacks for the second time in three days.

Sparked by an eighth-inning rally, Ole Miss defeated Arkansas and kept their SEC tournament title hopes alive on Friday. A Thomas Dillard RBI single and Grae Kessinger's sacrifice fly that inning gave Ole Miss the win, and Parker Caracci handled the ninth inning to earn the save.

Gunnar Hoglund pitched 6.2 innings for the Rebels, giving up two runs on just three hits, striking out six. That spoiled a strong showing from Arkansas starter Connor Noland, who threw five innings of one-run, two-hit ball. 

Arkansas opened the scoring in the top of the fourth behind Matt Goodheart's two-run blast to right field, their lone runs on the day. 

Ole Miss answered in the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot from Kevin Graham, who smashed his homer off the scoreboard with two outs.

Dillard then tied the game with a clutch RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, and Kessinger gave the Rebels the lead later that inning with a sacrifice fly. 

Up next for Ole Miss is a matchup against Georgia on Saturday, while Arkansas will prepare for the NCAA tournament.

LSU def. Mississippi State 12-2

Less than 48 hours after coming out on the wrong side of a marathon game, LSU was able to exact some revenge as it run-ruled Mississippi State 12-2 in seven innings in an elimination game Friday night.

The Tigers chased Bulldogs starter JT Ginn in the third inning, putting a five-spot on him in the frame. A leadoff single by third baseman Chris Reid and a one-out double by second baseman Brandt Broussard opened the scoring, but that would only be the start of an offensive barrage. Shortstop Josh Smith would keep the line moving with an RBI single:

Overall, the Tigers used four hits and three walks to grab a 5-0 lead in the third.

And they weren't done.

After Mississippi State got two back in the bottom of the third, the LSU bats got to work. After two of the first three batters reach base via free passes, an RBI single by right fielder Antoine Duplantis extended the lead to six:

After a sacrifice fly by first baseman Drew Bianco put the Bulldogs within one out of getting out of the inning, the Tigers put together an onslaught of hits. Five of the next six batters recorded hits, including four in a row at one point. Left fielder Daniel Cabrera had an RBI single, center fielder Zach Watson nabbed an RBI double, and Reid added a two-run double.

By the time the top of the fourth finally came to an end, LSU had a commanding 12-2 lead. That would be more than enough for the pitching staff.

LSU starter Clay Moffitt allowed two runs on one hit in 2.1 innings, while Aaron George provided 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. Chase Costello finished off the victory with two shutout innings.

Reid led the way for the Tigers offense by going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Duplantis contributed two hits and an RBI as well.

While the Tigers' previous meeting set an SEC tournament record for time (six hours and 43 minutes) and tied the tournament record for innings (17), this game did not even require the full nine frames. No. 5 seed LSU will now face top-seeded Vanderbilt in the semifinals Saturday.